Olds High School's Interact Club raised about $4,500 net via its annual fundraising banquet.
That's down from last year when about $6,000 was raised.
The Interact Club is a junior Rotary Club.
Club advisor Tane Skotheim is not entirely sure why, but she notes attendance slipped a bit. About 150 people attended this year's banquet, held March 27, in the Olds High School commons. Last year, about 170 people attended, she says.
The banquet raises money for charities.
This year, there were two causes: sending a shelter box to a community that needs one and supporting the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS).
ShelterBox is an international charity supported by the Rotary Club which sends kits containing temporary shelter and supplies to families displaced by war or other disasters.
“PADS is a program that breeds, raises, trains and supports certified assistance dogs and partners them with people living with disabilities and with community care professionals. Interact had volunteers bring in some of the puppies during exam week to assist students who were dealing with elevated stress levels,” a post by the Interact Club says.
Skotheim says the plan is to donate $1,000 of the fund raised this year toward the PADS.
She notes representatives of that organization brought a couple of the puppies, "which were the hit of the banquet."
"We let the kids interact with the dogs; it was kind of a stress-relieving technique and kind of showed us how the dogs could be used," Skotheim says.
The raffle table was popular.
"We had a number of really lovely raffle items donated, so we made a lot of money off our raffle table, and they were all donated by local businesses and local individuals," Skotheim says.
She says another fundraiser -- the dessert auction -- was "fantastic."
"All of the desserts were donated by local bakers. And then we had Jim Crawford, who's a professional auctioneer, come in and auction the desserts for us, so that was really fun too," Skotheim says.
Each year, Olds College donates centrepieces for the banquet, which attendees can take home with them after leaving a cash donation. That also helps the banquet's bottom line.
"We have some good support," Skotheim says.
